Life is like a tube of lipgloss… You never know what you’re gonna get. Take Chanel’s Equinoxe Glossimer, for example, which looks totally lunch lady scary in the tube, but on my kisser it looks like a completely different product (with a lovely nude, golden pink glow).

Two coats of Equinoxe Glossimer layered on top of MAC’s Syrup lipstick give me what I like to call “fight the power” glow. A product with purple and gold flecks may not sound appropriate for the workplace, but Equinoxe is subtle enough for most office environments.

Viva la lipgloss revolution!

Continue Reading…

Hey, girls. It’s Monday and I’m feeling kind of blah, so to improve my outlook on this most dreaded of week days, I tried this really fun blue/teal eye with Sonia Kashuk’s Blue Lagoon Eye Shadow Quad ($9.99).

I used all four colors in the Blue Lagoon Quad, along with MAC Indigo Eye Pencil. Here’s the color map and shade placement I used:

Continue Reading…

Hi, homies! I’m at Macy’s right now buying eye makeup remover. I just saw this amazing teal-colored waterproof mascara from Clarins. The shade is Wonder Mint and it’s $23. Sadly, they are out of it right now, so no teal mascara for me! It’s pretty though, yah?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Sorry, but I sent this from my crackberry, hence the Blair Witch picture quality.

Lovely ladies, I’d like to introduce you to my latest lipstick obsession: Shu Uemura’s Rouge Unlimited Crystal Shine lipstick!

Falling in love with these $23 lippies was easy. They make my lips shine brighter than a glazed doughnut (mmm… doughnut) yet still feel feather-light on my lips. They pack tons of color, and there are a bunch of shades to choose from — 17 in all!

Here are eight of my favorites…

Beige shades

BG 941S

BG 916S

BG 901S

From left to right: 901S, 941S, 916S

Pink shades

PK 357S

PK 313S

PK 301S

From left to right: PK 301S, PK 313S, PK 375S


Continue Reading…

Sonia Kashuk’s new Creme Blushes are like buttah, baby. These highly pigmented blushes ($8.99 each — hello, bargain!) feel so soft and creamy to the touch that I’m tempted to grab a knife and spread ‘em on toast. I think all three shades are truly bee-yoo-tiful. They pack plenty o’ color for my cheeks and produce a fabulous dewy finish.

Sold exclusively at the House of Tar-ghay (aka Target), these shimmer-free blushes are surprisingly wearable considering how highly pigmented they are. I used a single layer to give my cheeks a natural flush and two layers to creates a bolder pop of color.

I wore two layers of Rosey for my look today.

The three shades, from left to right:

• Rosey: pink-coral
• Petal: cool rose-pink
• Ginger: warm orange-brown

I’ve been wearing these blushes separately for the past few days. To apply them I’ve used Sonia’s Flat Top Blusher Brush ($14.99). The synthetic fiber brush head grabs just enough color and fits nicely onto the apples of my cheeks.

First, I applied foundation followed by a layer of Creme Blush and a dusting of loose powder. I followed it up with a second layer of Creme Blush atop the loose powder.

A layer of powder blush will set Creme Blush, giving it a bit more staying power. On my combo oily/dry skin, Creme Blush by itself lasts about four hours, comparable to how long other cream blushes that I’ve tried have lasted.

To push Creme Blush beyond its limits, I’ll reapply around halfway through the day, swiping a finger across the pan and dabbing and blending a little more product onto my cheeks. The compact comes with a small sponge brush, which certainly works in a pinch, but I ended up throwing mine out because it seemed to cause some streaking.

If I’d tried to use Sonia’s Creme Blushes a few years ago when my skin was oilier than it is now, I doubt I would have liked them as much as I do. They’re emollient-rich, and I have a feeling they would have slid right off my uber-oily skin.

Continue Reading…